Tasmania’s Heritage Highway

You can be forgiven for thinking you have stepped back in time when travelling along Tasmania's Heritage Highway.

The inland drive is not part of the usual coastal trek that visitors have come to expect from the island state. For many it is a quick highway journey between Hobart and Launceston. But the wise will set aside time to explore the character towns alomng its length.

Instead of sweeping beach scapes, you are met with the rolling hills, amber trees and an old-world charm that will make you dream of a simpler time.

Historic towns like Longford, Ross, Campbell Town and Evandale – which has its own Sunday market – only add to this feeling.

A quick stop at the Glover Art Show or time your visit for the annual Penny Farthing Championships will also add to the regions romantic sentiments.

However, it is the region's World Heritage Listed convict sites in Woolmers and Brickendon that will most capture your attention.

Woolmers was a male convict settlement that now has 18 buildings and structures on a site that is flanked by 13 hectares of farmlands and pastures.

The Woolmers Homestead is a large two-storey building and one of the most important and historic buildings in the area.

Brickendon is one of Tasmania's oldest farming properties, as well as being the home of convicts, free works and pioneering agricultural site. It is open to visitors and weary travellers have the option of spending the night there too.

The Heritage Highway draws its present charm from a distinctly functional past; of farming and toil, of the early transport and stage coaches where each township meant a change of horses, a refreshment stop or an overnight. How easy the journey is now.